Saturday, February 27, 2010

After a nine week run at #1, Ke$ha has finally been bounced from the top spot by a familiar foe, the Black Eyed Peas. The quartet has returned to #1 for the third time in less than a year this week with “Imma Be”. Last year they had long runs at the top with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling”. Both songs ranked as two of the top songs of 2009. This week “Imma Be” leaps from 3-1 to become the group’s third career #1 hit.

It’s not often that an entire record label is credited with a hit song but Lil Wayne’s creation Young Money has done it twice now. They reached #10 last year with “Every Girl” and this week they move back up a notch to #3 with “BedRock” featuring Lloyd. Both singles have included Lil Wayne, Gudda Gudda, Drake and Jae Millz. This one also includes Young Money artists Nicki Minaj and Tyga. Lil Wayne also debuts in the Top 10 on the album chart this week with his latest solo album “Rebirth”.

One of the top country bands of 2009 was Nashville trio Lady Antebellum. The group made their first Top 10 appearance last fall when they reached #7 with “Need You Now”. This week they move back up from 6-5 with “Need You Now”. The song already reached #3 two weeks ago. Both hits reached #1 on the country chart.

San Francisco rock trio Train holds at #7 for a third week this week with “Hey, Soul Sister”. They are looking to make it their biggest hit ever. That occurred back in 2001 in their only other Top 10 appearance when they reached #5 with “Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me)”. Their current hit is also #1 on the Adult Top 40 chart.

Atlanta rapper Ludacris holds at #8 for a third week with his seventh Top 10 hit “How Low”. It’s his first Top 10 hit since reaching #2 in 2007 with “Runaway Love” featuring Mary J. Blige. The 32-year old star has hit #1 twice with “Stand Up” featuring Shawnna in 2003 and with “Money Maker” featuring Pharrell in 2006.

21-year old Haitian singer-songwriter Jason DeRulo also holds this week with his second Top 10 hit “In My Head”, from his debut self-titled album which is due out this week. This is his second week at #9. Jason’s first hit, “Whatcha Say” hit #1 last year.

Trey Songz had peaked at #14 twice in his career to this point. The 25-year old Virginia R&B star reached #14 in 2007 with “Can’t Help But Wait” and visited the position two years earlier when featured on Twista’s 2005 hit “Girl Tonite”. He now has topped both those song with “Say Aah” featuring Fabolous and scores his first Top 10 single by moving from 12-10.

Ke$ha fell a week short of a 10-week run at #1 with her debut single “TiK ToK”. But she is one the verge of a Top 10 run to #1 with a follow up. She holds at #11 with “Blah Blah Blah” featuring another top new act, 3Oh!3 who hit the Top 10 last year with “Don’t Trust Me”.

Justin Bieber’s third Top 40 hit, “Baby” featuring Ludacris is making a nice run up the Top 40. This week the teen star celebrates his 16th birthday by moving from 19-13. The song already reached #5 a month ago.

Lady GaGa is looking for her sixth Top 10 hit as she moves from 15-14 with “Telephone” featuring Beyonce. Her fifth hit, “Bad Romance”, also moves up a notch from 5-4 this week.

Moving from 20-17 this week is 25-year old Orianthi Panagaris. She simply goes by Orianthi. Originally from Australia, the singer-guitarist got her big breakthrough playing guitar for Michael Jackson on his last comeback concert attempt before his passing. Her first hit is “According To You”.

2009 American Idol champion Kris Allen cracked the Top 20 last year after he won the competition with two hits, “No Boundaries” and “Heartless”. This week he scores his third Top 20 hit, “Live LIke We’re Dying” which moves from 21-19.

The biggest mover in the Top 40 this week is “Nothin’ On You” featuring Bruno Mars by 21-year old Atlanta rapper B.o.B. The artist who also goes by Bobby Ray leaps from 38-21 in his second week in the Top 40.

Two other songs make moves of five spots or more in the bottom half of the Top 40 this week: The Script’s “Breakeven” (28-22) and Taylor Swift’s “Today Was A Fairytale” (30-24).

Two songs debut in the Top 40 this week. Rihanna celebrated her 22nd birthday this past week and leaps into the survey at #23 with “Rude Boy”. This is her 14th Top 40 hit. And Denver band OneRepublic bow at #34 with “All The Right Moves”. This is their third Top 40 appearance. My iTunes pick of the week:“Secret Love”, Kim Sozzi

Friday, February 19, 2010

Nashville pop star Ke$ha has gotten off to a great start this decade by spending her ninth consecutive week at #1 with “TiK ToK’. Her nine-week run is the longest run on the top of the chart since the Black Eyed Peas’ run with “Boom Boom Pow” last summer. The run is also a week short from the longest stretch at #1 to start a year. That happened just two years ago when Flo Rida spent the first ten weeks at #1 with “Low”. In 2005, Mario spent the first nine weeks at #1 with “Let Me Love You”.

25 years after USA For Africa recorded the ground-breaking single “We Are The World”, the song has been brought to life by several of today’s top artists to help benefit the country of Haiti after the terrible earthquake that devastated the country last month. “We Are The World 25: For Haiti” by Artists For Haiti debuts at #2 this week. The original record which helped the suffering people of Africa spent four weeks at #1 in 1985 and became the top selling single of the 1980s.

It’s not often that an entire record label is credited with a hit song but Lil Wayne’s creation Young Money has done it twice now. They reached #10 last year with “Every Girl” and this week they hold at #4 with “BedRock” featuring Lloyd. Both singles have included Lil Wayne, Gudda Gudda, Drake and Jae Millz. This one also includes Young Money artists Nicki Minaj and Tyga. Lil Wayne also debuts in the Top 10 on the album chart this week with his latest solo album “Rebirth”.

This isn’t big news over the past 14 months but we must mention it. Lady GaGa has a big week on the charts. She returns to #1 on the dance chart with “Bad Romance”. The song also regains a bullet as it holds at #5. The Yonkers native also climbs from 16-15 with “Telephone” featuring Beyonce.

One of the top country bands of 2009 was Nashville trio Lady Antebellum. The group made their first Top 10 appearance last fall when they reached #7 with “Need You Now”. This week they slip from 3-6 despite holding a bullet with “Need You Now”. Both hits reached #1 on the country chart.

San Francisco rock trio Train holds at #7 this week with “Hey, Soul Sister”. They are looking to make it their biggest hit ever. That occurred back in 2001 in their only other Top 10 appearance when they reached #5 with “Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me)”. Their current hit is also #1 on the Adult Top 40 chart.

Atlanta rapper Ludacris is back with a bullet this week as he holds at #8 with his seventh Top 10 hit “How Low”. It’s his first Top 10 hit since reaching #2 in 2007 with “Runaway Love” featuring Mary J. Blige. The 32-year old star has hit #1 twice with “Stand Up” featuring Shawnna in 2003 and with “Money Maker” featuring Pharrell in 2006.

21-year old Haitian singer-songwriter Jason DeRulo is up from 11-9 this week with his second Top 10 hit “In My Head”, from his debut self-titled album which is due out next week. Jason’s first hit, “Whatcha Say” hit #1 last year.

Ke$ha is on the brink of setting all sorts of records with her debut single “TiK ToK”. And now she is burning up the Top 40 with a follow up. She rockets from 22-11 with “Blah Blah Blah” featuring another top new act, 3Oh!3.

Trey Songz had peaked at #14 twice in his career to this point. The 25-year old Virginia R&B star reached #14 in 2007 with “Can’t Help But Wait” and visited the position two years earlier when featured on Twista’s 2005 hit “Girl Tonite”. He now has topped both those song with “Say Aah” featuring Fabolous which moves from 15-12 this week.

Timbaland also is gaining this week despite falling from 12-13 with “Carry Out” featuring Justin Timberlake.

Joining “We Are The World” and “Blah Blah Blah” as entries in the Top 20 is Justin Bieber’s third Top 40 hit, “Baby” featuring Ludacris. The song has already reached #5 but is heading back up this week from 25-19.

And holding at #20 this week is 25-year old Orianthi Panagaris. She simply goes by Orianthi. Originally from Australia, the singer-guitarist got her big breakthrough playing guitar for Michael Jackson on his last comeback concert attempt before his passing. Her first hit is “According To You”.

The biggest mover in the Top 40 this week is “Breakeven” by Irish rock trio The Script. This is their first American hit song.

Two songs make moves of five spots or more in the bottom half of the Top 40 this week: Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met You Yet” (30-25) and Taylor Swift’s “Today Was A Fairytale” (39-31).

There are two other debuts in the Top 40 this week. It’s been four years since South Carolina country star Josh Turner has cracked the pop Top 40. Back in 2006 he hit #38 with “Your Man”. This week he is back at #35 with “Why Don’t We Just Dance”. And 21-year old Atlanta rapper B.o.B. also known as Bobby Ray scores his first hit this week at #38 with “Nothin’ On You” featuring Bruno Mars. My iTunes picks of the week:“Tonight”, tobyMac“Broken Tonight”, Armen Van Buuren“Rocket”, Godfrapp“Get Back Up”, tobyMac“Beautiful History”, Plumb“Let It Go”, Cavo“You”, Collective Soul

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Nashville pop star Ke$ha has gotten off to a great start this decade by spending her eighth consecutive week at #1 with “TiK ToK’. The 22-year old newcomer also holds at #1 this week on the dance chart with that same hit. Ke$ha’s debut album “Animal” also debuted at #1 last month on the album chart. Her eight-week run is the longest run on the top of the chart since the Black Eyed Peas’ run with “Boom Boom Pow” last summer.

The second week after the Grammys always results in big gains for those acts that performed and won at the awards event. One of those big winners are The Black Eyed Peas. They came out and got the place moving with their mega-hit “I Gotta Feeling”. Their former #1 smash leaps back into the Top 10 this week from 16-9. This week, their fourth Top 10 hit from their current album “The END” with “Imma Be” also moves from 4-2. Those four Top 10 hits exceed the number of Top 10 singles they had their entire career up until this point. They are looking to make this their third #1 single joining “I Gotta Feeling” and “Boom Boom Pow” which both reached #1 last year.

One of the top country bands of 2009 was Nashville trio Lady Antebellum. The group made their first Top 10 appearance last fall when they reached #7 with “Need You Now”. This week they leap from 8-3 with “Need You Now”. Both hits reached #1 on the country chart.

It’s not often that an entire record label is credited with a hit song but Lil Wayne’s creation Young Money has done it twice now. They reached #10 last year with “Every Girl” and this week they slip from 3-4 with “BedRock” featuring Lloyd. Both singles have included Lil Wayne, Gudda Gudda, Drake and Jae Millz. This one also includes Young Money artists Nicki Minaj and Tyga. Lil Wayne also debuts in the Top 10 on the album chart this week with his latest solo album “Rebirth”.

San Francisco rock trio Train regains a bullet this week and moves from 9-7 with “Hey, Soul Sister”. They are looking to make it their biggest hit ever. That occurred back in 2001 in their only other Top 10 appearance when they reached #5 with “Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me)”. Their current hit is also #1 on the Adult Top 40 chart.

21-year old Haitian singer-songwriter Jason DeRulo is up from 14-11 this week with his second Top 40 hit “In My Head”, from his debut self-titled album which is due out in a couple weeks. Jason’s first hit, “Whatcha Say” hit #1 last year.

Trey Songz has peaked at #14 twice in his career to this point. He reached #14 in 2007 with “Can’t Help But Wait” and visited the position two years earlier when featured on Twista’s 2005 hit “Girl Tonite”. He’s one notch away from that spot again as he moves from 17-15 with “Say Aah” featuring Fabolous.

Yonkers, New York singer/songwriter Lady GaGa kicked off the Grammy Awards last week with a ground breaking performance that included pop icon Elton John. GaGa slipped from 2-5 this week with “Bad Romance” but climbs from 19-16 with “Telephone” which features another of the Grammy performers from two weeks ago, Beyonce.

The highest debut of the week comes from Pink. Her performance of “Glitter In The Air” at the Grammys did not include much clothing which may have prompted her debut at #18 this week. It is Pink’s 16th career Top 40 hit.

Also new in the Top 20 this week is 25-year old Orianthi Panagaris. She simply goes by Orianthi. Originally from Australia, the singer-guitarist got her big breakthrough playing guitar for Michael Jackson on his last comeback concert attempt before his passing. She moves from 21-20 this week with her first hit, “According To You”.

Three songs make moves of five spots or more in the bottom half of the Top 40 this week: Ke$ha’s “Blah Blah Blah” featuring 3Oh!3 (27-22), Drake’s “Forever” featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem (34-26, biggest jump of the week) and Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met You Yet” (36-30).

There are two other debuts in the Top 40 this week. Singer-producer Timbaland who turns 39 years old next month scores his eighth Top 40 hit this week at #36 with “Say Something” featuring Drake. And scoring their first American Top 40 hit is Irish rock trio The Script with “Breakeven” at #40. Selena Gomez also re-enters the Top 40 this week at #37 with “Naturally”. My iTunes picks of the week:“They All Laughed”, Amanda Carr & The Kenny Hadley Big Band“Shark In The Water”, VV Brown“Every Other Way”, BT“You And Me”, Dave Matthews Band

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Nashville pop star Ke$ha has gotten off to a great start this decade by spending her seventh consecutive week at #1 with “TiK ToK’. The 22-year old newcomer also holds at #1 this week on the dance chart with that same hit. Ke$ha’s debut album “Animal” also debuted at #1 last month on the album chart. Her seven-week run is the longest run on the top of the chart since the Black Eyed Peas’ seven week run with “I Gotta Feeling” last summer.

Yonkers, New York singer/songwriter Lady GaGa kicked off the Grammy Awards last week with a ground breaking performance that included pop icon Elton John. GaGa is demonstrating some of the same chart success that Sir Elton had throughout his career by moving up a notch to #2 with her fifth consecutive Top 10 hit, “Bad Romance”. She is still trying to make it her third #1 to go along with her first two hits “Just Dance” and “Poker Face”. She has a ways to go to catch Elton who has scored 56 Top 40 hits including eight #1 singles.

It’s not often that an entire record label is credited with a hit song but Lil Wayne’s creation Young Money has done it twice now. They reached #10 last year with “Every Girl” and this week they move from 4-3 with “BedRock” featuring Lloyd. Both singles have included Lil Wayne, Gudda Gudda, Drake and Jae Millz. This one also includes Young Money artists Nicki Minaj and Tyga.

Another Grammy performer last weekend was The Black Eyed Peas. They came out and got the place moving with their mega-hit “I Gotta Feeling”. This week, they score their fourth Top 10 hit from their current album “The END” with “Imma Be” which leaps from 11-4. Those four Top 10 hits exceed the number of Top 10 singles they had their entire career up until this point. They are looking to make this their third #1 single joining “I Gotta Feeling” and “Boom Boom Pow” which both reached #1 last year.

32-year old Atlanta rapper Ludacris rebounds back into the Top 10 this week in a big way by jumping from 12-6 with “How Low”. Two weeks ago the song became Luda’s seventh Top 10 single when it reached #10. After slipping to #12 last week it makes a nice rebound and regains a Top 10 spot.

The third of this week’s new songs in the Top 10 comes from Nashville country trio Lady Antebellum. The group made their first Top 10 appearance last fall when they reached #7 with “Need You Now”. This week they rocket from 18-8 with “Need You Now”. Both hits reached #1 on the country chart.

Almost cracking the Top 10 this week is 38-year old producer/hip hop star Timbaland. A week after leaping from 32-14, he moves up another three spots with “Carry Out” featuring Justin Timberlake. This would become his fourth Top 10 single as a headline artist. It would also become his fourth Top 10 collaboration with Justin Timberlake. Justin appeared on Timbaland’s 2007 #1 smash “Give It To Me”. And Timbaland was featured on Justin’s 2006 chart topper “SexyBack”. Both were featured on 50 Cent’s 2007 #5 hit “Ayo Technology”.

Speaking of Justin Timberlake, he has this week’s highest Top 40 debut. He along with Matt Morris who has written hits for Justin bow at #13 with “Hallelujah” featuring singer/guitarist Charlie Sexton. The song is from the #1 album “Hope For Haiti Now” which benefits the recent tragic earthquake in Haiti.

Right behind Justin is teen star Jason DeRulo making the biggest move of the week in the Top 40. Jason is up from 28-14 with “In My Head”. It is the follow up to his debut #1 single “Whatcha Say”.

There are no big movers in the bottom half of the Top 40 this week. The biggest move in the 21-40 positions is three notches done by three songs: Orianthi’s “According To You” (24-21), Kris Allen’s “Live Like We’re Dying” (26-23) and New Boyz’ “Tie Me Down” featuring Ray-J (32-29).

Michael Buble re-enters the Top 40 this week at #36 with “Haven’t Met You Yet” which reached #40 two weeks ago before slipping to #41 last week. And there is one other debut along with Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris’s “Hallelujah” this week. 32-year old Georgia country star Jason Aldean scores his second pop Top 40 hit this week with “The Truth” at #40. Jason’s first hit was “She’s Country” early last year.

Monday, February 1, 2010

It was an interesting night at the Grammy awards. I really enjoyed the Dave Matthews Band performance. That band is so creative and integrates so many different instruments and styles into their music. What were your thoughts on the Grammy awards?

About Me

I'm originally from southeastern Wisconsin and did my undergrad at UW-Eau Claire. I currently reside in Chaska, Minnesota where I teach middle school music and perform in the Twin Cities area. I am married and have two kids: Caleb (8) and Abby (2)